Colliding Worlds Trilogy 01 - Collision (33 page)
“You betrayed us, Kat.”
Her mother made no response.
“You betrayed the Sephians, the United States, and your own daughter,” she said, coughing between words.
“It was for your own good, Sienna. I couldn’t stand for genocide.”
“It’s not like that.”
Kat looked up. “I love you, Sienna. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I know, Kat,” she replied softly. “But that doesn’t matter now. You are a traitor.”
Sienna glanced up to Legian. His lips tightened. She nodded as much as her broken muscles would allow. With a grimace, he handed her his weapon.
Sienna lifted it, the weight causing the gun to wobble in her hand. But she was close enough that aim didn’t matter.
A sad look of acceptance came over Kat’s face. She held out her arms. “It’s finished.”
“No, Kat,” Sienna replied. “It’s just the beginning.”
Then she squeezed the trigger.
Sienna never cried. She’d made sure Kat had a proper burial. Despite her last actions in life, her mother had helped out many people as a humanitarian. Kat had always been her mentor, teaching her the hard lessons of life. And it seemed that she’d had one lesson left.
Being a leader means you have to make the hardest sacrifices.
She didn’t hate her mother. She couldn’t. But she also took on a responsibility that forced her to balance in favor of the lives of many versus the lives of few. Not exactly what Captain Kirk would do.
With her hands on the sink, Sienna stared at her image in the mirror, the left side of her face scabbed with no hopes of healing without massive scarring. She’d surprised everyone by not dying. With third degree burns over a third of her body, that she hadn’t succumbed to infection was a miracle. Sienna knew the truth. She knew it was Legian’s strength, sent to her through the
soullare
, that saved her.
Once she healed enough, she’d shave off what was left of her hair. In the meantime, she didn’t care what she looked like. She had more important things to worry about.
Like ensuring the Sephians’ future on Earth.
One thing had changed. Sienna was no longer afraid. Afraid of how she was perceived as a leader. Afraid of failing.
Pushing off from the sink, Sienna started her slow inspection of the base. Every day, she checked on Jax. She always knew where to find him. He’d be in the holding cells obsessively watching the prisoner Sienna had assigned him to back at her cabin. It was like he was entranced by the Draeken, like he couldn’t decide whether to kabob her or filet her. Either way, it wasn’t good for the Draeken. Talla looked miserable.
Finally, long after sunset, she went back to her room and read for a while. She didn’t know how long she stayed up. But she knew she’d been asleep for hours when Legian stepped into the room. She awoke at the sound of his footsteps; the book lay across her chest, still open to the page she last read. She set it on the nightstand and watched him walk over to the bed.
“You’re home.” She muffled a yawn and made room for him in the bed.
“Home,” he murmured as he sat down on the mattress and gave her a soft kiss. “I like the sound of that.”
It was then that she felt his tension, and she frowned. He stood, didn’t move for a moment, and his emotions caused her to try to sit up, only to lay back down with a wince. “Legian? What’s wrong?”
He abruptly fell to one knee before her. She reached out to him. “Are you okay?”
No answer. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something. He held out a piece of crumpled fabric before her.
She tentatively reached out and picked the fabric from his hand. She stared at the familiar black cotton with pink skulls. “You got me a new bandana? Just like my old one that I lost in the blast. Where’d you find it?”
He smiled at her questions, and she returned the smile and unraveled it. As it came undone, a small piece of metal fell out of it and into her lap.
She sat and stared at it in utter confusion.
He grabbed it and held it up before her. “Sienna, will you marry me?” he blurted out, sounding more nervous than she’d ever heard — or felt — from him.
Her emotions, amped up by his, skyrocketed. She squealed in delight.
He grimaced slightly. “Ace told me this is how I do it. He even brought me to the store. I’m going to kick his ass if he played me.”
She shook her head. “It’s
perfect
.”
He continued to hold the ring before her and looked at her hand. “Which finger?”
She pointed to her ring finger. “This one.” He slid it on, gently as to not abrade her healing skin. It fit perfectly. She wiggled her finger in the light and found symbols engraved across the silver band. Sephian symbols. She examined them more closely. She twisted the ring around her finger as she translated the four symbols.
Love
.
Tahren
. A word she couldn’t make out. And,
Forever
. “What’s this symbol mean?”
He bent down and looked it over. “
Caya
. It is the closest Sephian word to ‘wife.’”
Holding her left hand in her right, she brought it to her heart. “Oh, Legian.”
“Ace said this is where you accept or reject me.”
“I accept. Of course I accept,” she said in a rush and pulled him to her. He kissed her, and before she knew it, his clothes were on the floor and he was lying next to her.
“I love you, Sienna. You’ve saved my life. And I want you as both my
tahren
and my wife. I’d also like to take your last name.”
She frowned. “But Sephians don’t use last names.”
“Humans do. And it would be an honor to carry my
tahren’s
name.”
She reached out and cupped his cheek. “Of course. I love you, Legian. Always. Forever. You’re mine, and don’t forget it.” She leaned into him and drifted away, embraced by the only thing she needed in the world.
The Draeken could wait another day.
Sienna’s Favorite Sephian Drinking Game (used with American dice and booze): “Sephian Roulette”
Supplies:
1 dice
6 cups
Fill 5 cups with varying amounts of beer. Fill the sixth cup with a shot of your choice. Line the cups up in a row on the table. Number the cups from one to six. Everyone sits around the table. Someone starts by rolling the dice. The on the dice corresponds to the number of the cup in the line. Drink it all, and pass the dice to the next player. If the cup is empty, fill it as much as you want with a drink (beer or shot, your choice), and pass the dice to the next player.
Sienna’s Favorite Shot: The “Milk Dud”
1 jigger Irish cream liqueur 1 jigger coffee liqueur 1 jigger dark rum
Splash of chocolate syrup Dab of whipped cream Mix the chocolate syrup with the alcohol. Float the cream on top. If you’d like to make it fancy, sprinkle the top with grated chocolate. Enjoy.
With many thanks
To Jennifer Lawler and Jess Verdi for making my stuff look good.
To Elle J. Rossi for the Mike’s.
To my husband for the hugs.
To Annabelle for the endless supply wet doggie kisses.
To all the soldiers out there for making freedom possible.
To
you
for picking up this story and opening the worlds within it.
Berinn Rae writes romantic sci-fi/fantasy about women with kickassitude. Her debut novel,
Knightfall
, was an EPIC eBook Award finalist, nominated for a Bookie Award, and listed as one of the top ten books of 2011 by
Books of Love
blog. Her second novel,
Hellbound
, and a novella,
Stealing Fate
, are 2012 releases. When not writing, she can be found flying old airplanes, watching SciFi movies, and pampering an incredibly spoiled sixty-pound lap dog.
Visit Berinn online at
www.BerinnRae.com
.
In the mood for more Crimson Romance?
Check out
Smitten Image
by Pam B. Morris
at
CrimsonRomance.com
.